


Let Me Help You

by EmmaraldNightmare



Series: Blood Moon Series [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Arguing, Cleaning, Dreams, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fighting, Fireworks, Gaster Blasters, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Interrogation, Major Character Injury, Misunderstandings, Night Terrors, Party, Pillow Fights, Potions, Storytime, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25249738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmaraldNightmare/pseuds/EmmaraldNightmare
Summary: When Blue first returned from his time with Error and the gang he was ecstatic. They weren’t evil. No one needed to fight anymore! He wanted to share that with everyone and the first two skeletons he met when he got back were definitely the pair that needed to hear his good news the most.Let’s see how well Ink and Dream took it.This is a prequel to Blood Moon and Killer’s Gang. However, I recommend having read Blood Moon before reading this fic.
Series: Blood Moon Series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1783549
Comments: 19
Kudos: 98





	1. How They Took It

The magic suppressing collar itched, but then again brainwashed prisoners weren’t supposed to be comfortable.

Blue lay in a daze in the middle of the floor, staring at the ceiling of the Star Sanses' living room. The stockpile of Ink’s stuff that usually cluttered this section of the base had been thrust against the walls in unstable towers. Maybe it was to give him some space. No, more likely it was to keep him away from anything he might use to free himself from the thick ropes that were digging into his ankles and wrists.

His bones ached from the awkward position he had been left in for the last hour while the two skeletons near the door clumsily mixed ingredients and bickered over which proportions the recipe called for. He rolled onto his other side so he didn’t have to watch them. However, the shouting battered his skull no matter how hard he tried to bury himself into the plush rainbow carpet.

This had become more and more like a broken film reel. They would drag him in here, try something to ‘fix’ Nightmare’s mind control, give up and go back to planning something else. Wash, rinse and repeat. 

It had been three days since he had returned from the anti-void. He just had the rotten luck to run into these two before his brother. Stretch would have listened to him; he would have given him a chance. Instead, he had been gagged, restrained and dragged kicking and screaming back to the base the second he had opened his mouth to share his story. Why wouldn’t they just believe him? He wasn’t insane, he wasn’t being controlled. He just wanted to help.

Ink marched towards him, clutching a vial filled with a gooey, moss green liquid. The concoction writhed with a life of its own. It beat against the inside of the glass. Looking at it and knowing where it was meant to go sent Blue’s soul into a frenzied panic. He paled as the other approached. Marrow leaked from beneath his bonds as he desperately squirmed backwards. The artist only gave him a blank stare and yanked the gag from his mouth. 

“I’m not lying! Please Ink!” Blue said “I’m not being controlled! Nightmare-” 

His pleads were cut off as the vial was thrust down his throat. The taste was rancid, like biting into an apple only to find it had rotted on the inside. He gagged against the foul fluid but, Ink’s hand was clamped over his mouth. With no other choice, he choked down the potion.  
It hurt; the burning sludge slithered down his throat and settled in his stomach as if he had swallowed a hot lead weight. The invasive presence gnawed at his insides, drawing his magic to it and gouging itself on his strength. A cold sweat broke out across his bones as his magic swelled, churned and violently shot back upwards. 

Dream raced forward. He flinched when Blue thrust his face into a bucket he was holding out. Retching noises filled the room, magic gushed from Blue in painful bursts only allowing him a few seconds to gasp between the surges of nausea. Finally, he sunk into the floor and curled into a ball, waiting for the shivering to stop. 

“Blue?” Dream crouched down and gently shook his shoulder. 

Ink tried to pull the guardian back.

“Don’t get too close.” He warned. 

Blue’s wrists slid free of the sweat soaked ropes. Gathering what little strength he could he threw himself at Dream, clawing at the other’s shirt. “Listen to me Dream! Your brother isn’t evil, just talk to him!”

A sharp pain bloomed across the back of his skull. Blue slumped forward into the guardian’s chest. Vibrant patches of color swayed in front of his eyes.

“Ink!” Dream said.

Ink sheathed his brush and shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “Sorry, I panicked.” 

Warmth bathed Blue’s skull as Dream stroked healing magic into the cracks. He ran his other hand over the scratches on Blue’s wrists, letting them mend before replacing the ropes with new ones.

“That potion didn’t work either,” Ink said. 

The artist walked back to the work table and started shuffling through the papers scattered there. “Sci said that would purge any dark magic from his system, so why didn’t that one work?!"

Dream’s shoulders sagged. 

“I don’t know but, what else can we do?” he asked, cradling Blue’s skull on his lap.

Ink’s face darkened. The creator raised another vial to his eye level and turned back to the other two. A determined frown broke across his skull “We keep trying.”

Blue’s scream was silenced as Dream covered his mouth again. His body was too tired from the last potion to make any worthwhile effort at escape. He could only whimper as Ink approached.

\-----

Blue’s gaze wandered around his room. After three more hours of attempts Ink had stormed off through a portal back to the Doodle Sphere and Dream had been left to clean up and carry him back in here. 

He lay gasping in the darkness; the fourth potion had sapped whatever energy was left in his body and left him a quivering mess. He couldn’t move. Not that he would be able to anyway, the shackles chaining him down barely allowed him enough freedom to shuffle from one side of the bed to the other. 

Every bone in his body cried in agony. They throbbed with Dream’s healing magic but, that did almost nothing to quiet the deep ingrained pain the repeated punishments had carved into them. He groaned when the sheets brushed against a particularly weak rib. 

What had he done to deserve this? 

Tortured sobs echoed through the empty space. Realizing this was choking off his already limited ability to breathe and rattling his damaged body, he grit his teeth, scrunched his eyes and tried to choke them back. The pressure stung his throat and forced his tears to pour out faster.

Unable to hold back his grief, he gave into it. Ear shattering wails resounded through the base. He hoped Dream and Ink would hear him. At least he could get some satisfaction from knowing they knew what they had done to him. If they heard him in enough misery maybe they would stop and listen to him. Was that what they wanted?!

Eventually, the room felt silent when Blue blacked out.


	2. The Dreamscape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue has a dream and sees a friend.

Darkness stretched out in every direction. Glassy ground slid beneath his feet and an icy breeze froze his breath on his tongue, there was nothing else. At least, he wasn’t restrained anymore. Blue stretched his limbs, smiling at the lack of pain this place had graced him with.

“Hi Blue.” The voice behind him was cheerful but, the tone sent a chill up his spine. 

An iron grip clamped down on his shoulder. Not possible! The voice wasn’t that close a second ago. A yellow gloved hand reached around his chest and pulled him into a rough embrace from behind.

“What’s wrong? I’m only trying to help.” The other said. Despite the way his soul was pounding in his chest, Blue’s gaze was reluctantly dragged to the skull that rested on his left shoulder. 

A cruel sneer that definitely didn’t belong there was plastered across Dream’s face. His eye lights twinkled with a crimson gleam as he licked his lips. “Let’s see if this will cure you.”

Warmth lit up Blue’s bones as Dream’s magic entered him. His thoughts drifted away from him like steam, as if he had been floating in a hot bath for too long. 

He giggled. Spots danced in front of his eyes as the steam thickened into a solid mass. The positive energy had become cotton wool in his skull. He couldn’t think. The fluff blocked out everything.

Dream raised his other hand to show a golden chain that glowed with his magic.

“Mean old Inky wouldn’t let me use this before,” he said, playing with the trinket. “Scared it’d cripple your magic. Make it easy on yourself Blue, summon your soul for me…or else.”

Blue’s skull snapped back. A series of choked chuckles shook him as the positive energy shot through his mind. The fluff suddenly bloated to far more than his skull could possibly hold. His mind strained as emotions that were never meant to be felt in this measure shoved against the inside of his brain.

He was a doll being crammed with too much stuffing. This picture caused his chortles to descend into unrestrained manic laughter as he dug his phalanges into his forehead, subconsciously trying anything to hold back the building pressure that threatened to split it open. This was hilarious! He could dust right here and no one but Dream would even know! 

He let out a rush of strangled chokes and gasps. His body stained to get any oxygen in between the insane laughter. He couldn’t breathe! So funny!

Dream let out his own spiteful snicker and drove another torrent of happiness directly into Blue’s soul. Blue’s eye lights blacked out. His body became still. The guardian smiled and reached inside Blue’s shirt.

“ **Drop him**.” 

Nightmare emerged from the darkness. His one teal eye light glared daggers at the night terror that embraced Blue.

The apparition hissed but, this was the guardian of night terrors. Blue knew that even if the creature haunting his mind was reluctant to give up its prey there was no way it could refuse a direct order from its king.

Dream’s pale imitation released him. Blue gave a grateful sob as he dropped to the floor with a thud. The positive magic drifted away and his true emotions returned to him like stars behind a cloud of fog. Blue relaxed into the floor, bathing in the sensation as he became whole again.  
A cold voice brought his attention back to the thing still looming over him.

“Well, I’m sure whatever Ink wants to try next will work…eventually,” the night terror said. It spared Blue a final sadistic wink before disappearing back into the depths of his mind. 

Nightmare regarded the space where the phantom had been with an expression of disgust. “Did they really try that?”

Blue rubbed his clothes vigorously, as if he could swipe away the fake’s venomous touch by scrubbing at it hard enough. “Yeah, but that was definitely an exaggeration. Dream isn’t really like that”

Somewhere in his soul he knew Dream and Ink didn’t mean to hurt him. But, these experiences and nightmares were poisoning him. He didn’t want to see them like this! He wanted them to understand and nothing was working! 

His body slumped as the weight of the day pressed down on him. Part of him wanted to hate them. His rage last night proved that.   
But, could he? Could he just forget everything they had experienced together before all this and call them bad because they didn’t understand? How was that any different than how they treated the gang? 

Despite everything it was still them. 

No, he wouldn’t hate them. Everyone could change; anyone could be better if they just tried. He believed in them and despite it all…he missed them.

“I know.” Nightmare said. Although Blue wasn’t sure if he was answering his last statement or his thoughts. The two were so blurred here in the dreamscape. Nightmare took Blue’s hands in his. 

With the other holding him, Blue halted the frantic movements and smiled at Nightmare. The dark skeleton had visited him every night in his dreams ever since he had been taken by the Star Sanses. He was the only thing Blue could look forward to in this hell and was the only thing that kept him grounded. If Nightmare wasn’t here, he was sure he would have gone insane or descended into a murderous rage by now. 

Nightmare ran his phalanges over Blue’s face, wiping away the tears. Blue gave a moan as the others chilly touch cooled his burning cheeks.

“What would you like to do tonight?” Nightmare asked.

Blue stared at the floor. “You can choose.”

Nightmare turned to the void that surrounded them and raised his arms.

A couch, a television, a shaggy carpet and faded wallpaper appeared from nowhere, effortlessly shaping the space into a perfect replica of the living room at the gang’s hideout. 

Stings laced with carved wooden stars fell from the ceiling. Multi-colored balloons hand printed with drawings of Blue brushed against him as they rolled underfoot. Furniture shook in time to Dust’s deafening rock music. Blue sighed as a savory aroma wafted through the room. A large table popped into existence and filled itself with a range of Horror’s best party food. Cookies, pizza, blueberry muffins, even a plate of badly botched tacos that spilled their contents out onto the tablecloth. Blue was touched that Horror had tried to replica his favorite dish but, he’d have to give the chef some tips about that sometime. Above it all, a massive banner watched over the scene. Although being written in six different types of handwriting made it slightly tough to read, Blue couldn’t help but beam at it.

WELCOME TO THE TEAM BLUE

He loved this memory. Killer had explained to him how the others in the gang had never had a proper welcoming party when they joined. The group had been too damaged back then; they had all been too focused on getting over their own troubles and trying to stay in the same room without tearing each other apart. Everyone had agreed when Blue asked to join that this seemed like as good a time as any to start a new tradition. 

Blue and Nightmare stepped forward into the dream of the past.

The door to the kitchen slammed against the wall as a memory of Error kicked it open. The glitch slunk into the room, snatched a chocolate bar from the buffet and sank into the couch cushions. Smirking, Blue approached the destroyer from behind. He bent his legs and leapt at Error. Stings snatched him up mid-flight and left him dangling upside down from the ceiling.

“NiCe TrY,” Error said. He twirled the ends of stings which held Blue around his index phalange. Blue pouted as he pulled at the thread entangling his legs. 

Nightmare turned down the music thundering from the speakers and chuckled at the pair. “This is his party Error; you can humor him just for today right?”

Error scowled. But, eventually he wilted under the other's gaze. “FiNe.” 

The strings dropped Blue into the couch. He cheered as he leaned over and embraced Error. He had to admit the other skeleton did surprisingly well. It took about seven seconds of cuddling before the glitches orbiting the destroyer started to flicker rapidly. Red and blue screens blinked in the skeleton’s eye lights like a camera shutter as he struggled to remain still. At last, he flung his arms free and the strings yanked Blue back into the ceiling.

Blue giggled as Error continued wolfing down his chocolate, cursing under his breath between bites. He hoped he would one day be able to hold his friend and provide him with some comfort. Stars knew Error deserved it. Until then, he would be patient. 

Killer and Horror’s eye sockets widened when they wandered in to find Blue suspended from the stings, still grinning to himself. 

“Not again.” Horror scowled at Error.

Once the cheerful Sans was untangled an earth shattering explosion resounded from upstairs.

Nightmare groaned. “That idiot better not have destroyed his room again.”

Blue thought there was a pretty good chance of that. In the brief time he had known Dust the mad chemist’s experiments had destroyed three bedrooms, a bathroom, half the garden and a stable. No one had even known the castle _had_ a stable until they were dousing it with water and explaining fire safety to the hooded skeleton. 

Ten minutes later, smoke trailed into the room followed by an ash coated Dust carrying a large box. Cross bounded in behind him, the stains on his clothes doing nothing to dampen the way his body buzzed with excitement. The package was placed in the center of the room while Dust stood over it proudly.

Everyone present edged away from the box. Blue was the first to break the awkward silence that had descended upon the group.

“So, what’s in there?” he asked.

“Home-made fireworks,” Dust said. The skeleton grinned like a cat who was presenting a particularly fat mouse to a friend.

“No,” Nightmare said.

“But...” 

“NO.” 

Dust pouted. “It’s perfectly safe.” 

He smacked the box to prove it. Everyone dove for cover when it erupted in a blaze of flames and screeching rockets.

Error clambered under the table as one flew past, narrowly missing his spine. “WHat THe HeLL Are ThESe AbOmINAtIONs?!” 

“Don’t worry! They’re just joke magic they can’t hurt anyone!” Dust yelled from behind the couch. 

Horror yelped as one of the rockets splattered into his chest, dousing him with honey. Dust poked his skull out and tried to shout instructions to the fleeing gang members. 

“Don’t move, that one’s made with blue magic” he said to Killer. 

Killer froze. The rocket smacked into his back and exploded in a spray of pink paint. 

Dust sunk back down behind the piece of furniture, barely using it to hide a smirk “Sorry, must have been the other one.”

“We really should have color coded these things,” Cross said before he took a shortcut out of the path of one firework and into the path of another.

Blue was laughing his heart out from under the table with Error. “These things are alive!”

“What! No they’re not.” Dust said. A foam filled rocket that had been chasing Nightmare swerved and hit the dusty skeleton in the face.

Error clambered out from under the table and made a break for the door. A blue firework swung mid-flight to follow him. 

“I think that one was made with orange magic,” Dust said. 

After seeing what had happened to Killer Error halted, turned and faced the missile dead on. He was rewarded with a mouthful of green paint. The glitch roared and charged at Dust, trying to throttle the other skeleton.

Nightmare tentacles were a blur as he tried to fight off six rockets at once. “How do we stop these things?!” 

“They have to run out eventually.” Cross’ voice answered from behind the television. 

\-----

Everyone stood in the center of the living room and gawked at the aftermath of the battle. Holes littered the ceiling and walls. Paint, foam and other types of unidentifiable goo coated the furniture. Everyone was too scared to go into the kitchen and somehow a wind up frog had got stuck to the top of Horror’s skull.

“That was amazing.” Blue grinned.

“That was horrible,” Horror said as he tried to detach the frog.

“I never thought I’d get a reaction like that…maybe I should've used more gunpowder.” Dust picked up the remains of one of his creations and studied it.

Nightmare shot him a glare “You are never doing anything like this ever again.”

“Fine.” Dust sighed. After Nightmare had moved out of earshot to assist with the clean-up he leaned over and whispered to Blue. 

“Not until we get another new member.”

\-----

Blue fell back with a wide genuine smile on his face. This was why he loved dreaming with Nightmare so much. For a moment, he could forget everything that was happening in the waking world and just lose himself with his friends.

All the same, his soul was heavy as he watched the shades of the past fade away. Memories were great but, they couldn’t replace his real friends. They couldn’t speak to him the way real people could, they wouldn’t remember him when he wasn’t there and they were always the same. Besides Nightmare, the friends he had here were just actors in a movie, trapped in a script that time had written for them. 

He pulled his knees into his chest and leaned against Nightmare’s shoulder. The other’s tentacles encircled him while he cried for the family he had lost, both the Dark and the Star Sanses.


	3. Storytime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue tries a new plan.

Magic rushed to Blue’s head. He had tried for two hours to pull free of the manacles that held him to the bed. For a second he was certain he was getting close…that was before he slipped and tumbled off, dragging everything with him. He had only succeeded in turning himself into an upturned cocoon of star patterned sheets. 

An upside down pair of yellow boots entered the room. Blue groaned as careful hands pulled him upright and laid him back onto the mattress. He rolled over and buried his skull into his pillow.

“Please don’t be difficult,” Dream said. 

Blue tried to curl into a ball again. The chains stopped him halfway.

Dream sighed. “I’m sorry about yesterday…we went a little too far, so I came to make a promise.”

Blue lifted his skull.

“If you take this last potion without a fuss, we won’t try again today. It’s extra strong so we didn’t want to try it before and I understand if you don’t feel up to it.” Dream said.

Blue observed the bottle in the other’s hand. The liquid inside was clear; a rainbow glowed where the light hit it. At least it wasn’t moving this time. 

He nodded.

Dream beamed. The guardian touched the rim to Blue’s teeth and gently poured the mix down his throat. It took about two minutes to hit him. Blue slumped back into the pillows as a wave of tiredness overcame him. His eyes closed while Dream held his hand.

\-----

His skull pounded. Blue let it pass and gathered his thoughts. He was still himself, that wasn’t surprising. How were you supposed to remove something that wasn’t there to begin with?

He opened his eyes and gazed at Dream. The other was leaning over him with such expectation. 

What was the harm in going along with it? Talking wasn’t working while the other believed he was not himself and he had been striking his skull against this wall for too long. He squeezed Dream’s hand. The night terrors had stung but, they weren’t real. Maybe he could find another way to convince his friend and if not…he wanted things to be like they used to be for just a little while.

“Dream?” Blue asked. He rubbed his eye sockets, miming waking up from a long sleep. “Where am I?”

The other hesitated. His eye lights blinked twice before he let out a long breath. “You’re in your room at the base. My brother was controlling you but, you’re back now.” 

Dream stroked Blue’s cheek with a warm tenderness that Blue had feared he would never feel from the other again. He leaned into it.

After the guardian unlocked Blue’s chains the two left the room and headed down the hall, coming to a halt in front of Ink’s room. Blue’s soul shot into his throat. He dug his feet into the carpet to stop his limbs fleeing without his consent. His scrunched his face in confusion when the door swung open on an empty chamber.

Dream handed him an empty trash bag. “I need to clean that hoarder’s room today while he’s still sulking. It’s the only time I can throw anything out. Want to help?”

Looking at it, Dream wasn’t wrong. Blue had thought the living room was bad when he first came here all those months ago but, he had never seen inside Ink’s room. 

They barely had enough space to walk through the jungle of random junk. The floor and walls weren’t even visible under the mass of drawings that had been either discarded or pinned to them. A bed and wardrobe cowered behind a creaking mountain of leftover art supplies. Blue cringed as a faint stench wafted out from a nearby pile of hats. Ink didn’t even wear hats and had he left his snacks in here or something? 

That loony had always created whenever the mood struck him and once he thought about it, Blue had never seen him throw anything away himself. Would they have drowned in this if it wasn’t for Dream?

The two sorted the mess in silence for hours. Blue was deciding if Ink really needed five bowling balls when the tower of boxes he was leaning against wobbled. The stack creaked; its shadow fell over him before it fell with a booming crash. 

“BLUE!” Dream tunneled through the wreckage and pulled him out. “Do you need healing? Are you hurt?”

Blue blushed. Boxes were a more dangerous foe than he had given them credit for. What had hit him anyway?

He dug through the jumble as the other fussed. The boxes were filled with…books? He lifted one with a bright picture. Were these for children? Some looked too complicated for that. Dream snatched it away. His eye sockets were narrowed but, they also sparkled with a strange sadness as if he was seeing an old friend. 

“Are they yours?” Blue asked.

Dream jumped. He composed himself and started flicking fondly through the worn pages. “Not all of them. This one is. It was my favorite bed time story when I was growing up with my b…”

He trailed off. Blue took the guardian’s hand before he could leave. “Will you read it to me?”

Dream’s grip on the book tightened but, as Blue slid onto his lap he relented and opened it. “The little red hen.”

Blue snuggled into Dream’s silky shirt and let the story wash over him. It wasn’t anything special, just a simple tale about a hen finding some wheat and wanting to make a loaf of golden brown bread. No one wanted to help her when she asked and once the bread was ready she didn’t want to share it with the selfish animals. But, seeing how hungry they were the little red hen shared it anyway and they promised to help next time. 

Blue scoffed, those lazy bones in the story were worse than his brother. Sure, Stretch wasn’t the most active person in the multiverse but; at least he didn’t openly ignore people who needed help. If he had been there the magnificent Sans would have taught those animals some manners! Still, he wondered at the joy in Dream’s tone as finished the tale. The other’s eye lights took on a new life as he stroked the cover and gazed lovingly at the illustration.

“It’s wonderful isn’t it, how one person’s hard work can bring people closer together and how great it is to enjoy your efforts with your friends,” he said.

What? That was one way to think about it but, had he and Dream even been listening to the same story?

“Isn’t it about not being self-centered and expecting someone else to do everything for you?” Blue asked.

“Hmmm, I don’t think so.” Dream continued to study the drawing as he spoke.

Blue’s body tensed. Had the other really grown up with this story thinking that was the message? Why didn’t Nightmare correct him,,, no, no, wait, maybe this was an opportunity. Maybe he could try this as a new tactic for getting through to his friend without blowing his cover. He leaned back and hummed, as if he was contemplating something difficult.

“What do you think would have happened if the little red hen couldn’t make bread?” He asked. “What if she could only make something not everyone enjoyed?”

“Like what?” Dream’s attention had returned to the room. Despite the fact that they were practically done and the floor was mostly visible again, his eye lights still flickered between the remaining areas of mess. He slid out from under Blue and scooped up a handful of cerulean hoodies from the bed.

“Like…” Blue racked his skull for something made with wheat that not everyone loved. Eventually, he settled for something he had tried to make with Horror once. “Black licorice?”

Dream pulled a face. “Why would anyone do that? If nobody liked it the answer’s easy.”

Oh? Blue wanted to hear this. Maybe Dream would surprise him. He moved forward waiting for the other to finish.

“The little red hen should have just stopped making licorice and learned to make bread.”

Blue would have face palmed himself if he hadn’t thought that was too obvious. But, he wasn’t giving up that easily. The magnificent Sans was not a quitter! There was no telling when an opportunity like this would come again and if he could get through to Dream…even a little maybe…

“What if she couldn’t?”

Dream flinched back from him. “Well-”

“What if she needed help from someone else?!”

Dream's eye sockets were wide as he pawed through a pile of Ink’s shoes. He didn’t seem like he had an answer and Blue wasn’t about to let this go until he at least tried to think about it!

“Come on! This is important! If she couldn’t make bread and no one wanted licorice then how do you think she would feel? What if people hated her for it? No one deserves to be hated or hurt just because they need help and those animals had every opportunity to offer it! Nightmare-“ Blue clamped his hands over his mouth. 

His bones turned to ice as he observed Dream’s expression for any signs that he had given himself away. He had almost directly called the other out for not reaching out to his sibling more. That was unfair but…

Dream shoveled a half-eaten bag of cookies into the trash bag. “What?”

Blue let out his breath. Thank stars.

The door flew open and Ink charged in, brandishing his weapon. 

“Where is he?!” He growled. The artist’s red target eye light settled on Blue. “If you tried anything to hurt Dream.” 

The brush drew closer, acidic paint hissed and bubbled on the tip. It stank of burning charcoal and Blue couldn’t do anything but lean away from it as it edged towards his chest. 

Dream shoved the weapon aside. Several boxes sizzled as the paint splattered them. 

The guardian grabbed Ink’s hand and squeezed twice. “It’s okay, he’s cured.”

Ink’s eye lights blinked rapidly in a slide show of emotions. Question marks, targets again, tear drops and finally stars. 

“Thank heavens!” Ink tackled Blue. Blue barely had any time to think before he was lifted into the air and whirled around. His head spun but, he still smiled at the other’s bright laugh. Ink halted and observed the room. 

“What did you do?!” he asked.

“We tidied it up.” Dream grinned.

The artist dropped Blue. He darted from one side of the room to the other. Various bits of clothing flew through the air as he burrowed into them. “Where is everything?!”

“In the trash.” Dream said. He crossed his arms and gave the other a disapproving glance. “It was starting to smell in here.”

Blue dodged as a stream of sports shoes soared passed his rib cage and thumped into the wall. Ink shook a spare glove at the guardian. “My chaos had a system!“

Dream crinkled his nose at him. “Where did moldy pizza fit into that system?”

“Well, no systems perfect but, it had a purpose.” A rainbow flush crossed Ink’s skull. He settled onto the bed and painted a basketball into existence. 

Dream rolled his eye lights. “It was moving Ink.” 

“If I can have a pet rock I don’t see why Ink can’t have a pet slice of pizza.” Blue said. 

He couldn’t help lighting up as the artist gave him a grateful smile. It soon turned to a mischievous smirk. Dream looked on in horror as a flock of quacking pizzas sprung from the artist’s brush. The creatures bounded around the room, leaking tomato sauce everywhere and pecking at the furniture. 

Dream grabbed the brush before Ink could make anything worse. “I’m revoking your right to create more mess. Hand it over.” 

“Never.” Ink said. 

He clutched Broomie to his chest and fought to keep it there as the other skeleton yanked at it. Blue’s soul lifted as he left the room, herding the pizza ducks into the kitchen. 

This could work.


	4. A Plan and Dreamtale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ink and Dream discuss what just happened.

Ink waited until Blue was out of earshot before dropping the act. He slid down his bed onto his stomach, lobbing the basketball into the corner. It popped, sagging into a flat sack as he glowered at the wall. He lifted his hand, remembering the pressure of Dream’s phalanges on his. The pair had been concerned this might happen. So, he was glad they had come up with a signal. “Letting him out was dangerous.”

Dream’s expression had fallen the moment Blue left the room. He shrunk back from Ink’s stare and rung his cape in his hands. 

Ink’s chest ached as he watched his friend. How could he blame him? Didn’t he feel the same?

“I miss him too.” Ink said.

He pulled out a small paintbrush, removed a glove and doodled on his wrist. When Blue bounced through a portal in Underswap he had been amazed. After all, why would Error of all people kidnap someone and then just let them go? 

At first, he had assumed that Blue had managed to annoy the glitch so much that he got sick of the hyper skeleton and kicked him out. Blue knew about Error’s temper from their battles and was smart enough to take advantage of that. Ink would’ve expected nothing less from his friend. The paint on his bones stretched to life. Golden butterflies fluttered across the room and nestled on the wardrobe. 

Ink’s eye sockets narrowed. 

But, that wasn’t what had happened.

The brush creaked in his grasp.

Error had taken Blue to Nightmare.

As soon as Blue started babbling about balance, the gang being nice and how they didn’t have to fight, he knew it was too late. Nightmare had always taken such pleasure in using others to do his dirty work for him. Forcing Ink’s own creations to attack him and spread misery across his multiverse, just so that demon could laugh at the pain he caused. Wasps buzzed from his wrists. One stung him. He didn’t notice.

And now he had taken Blue. That thing had taken his friend and warped his mind so that he couldn’t tell the difference between right and wrong anymore. Blue had scolded him for crying out loud! 

In that same tone his friend used to tell him off for leaving his socks around the base, he had lectured him on how he wasn’t doing his job right. How he couldn’t keep making whatever he wanted and the three of them should just go visit Nightmare. Tears ran down his face as his strokes became more frantic. Mosquitos, spiders and beetles poured from his brush like water.

It was like Nightmare was playing some kind of sick game with them! Find the happiest, sweetest, most innocent person in the multiverse and turn them into your personal puppet to lure in the others. Fifty points if you can do it without leaving a permanent physical scar! He slashed the brush into his arm; corrosive liquid struck long smoking indentations in the bone.

Blue had one of the strongest hearts he had ever seen! How much had the little skeleton gone through before Nightmare broke him? Why couldn’t he have got there sooner?! Why did he have to keep doing these horrible things to bring him back?! AND WHY WASN’T ANY OF IT WORKING!!! 

The brush shattered.

“Ink!” Dream scolded. “Yellow!”

Ink dropped the pieces. This time he was the one to shrink back like an embarrassed child. He removed the sunny vial from his belt and let a warm drop wash down his throat. His body relaxed as the smooth fluid calmed his mind. “Thanks. Ouch!”

A mosquito bit him. Ink swat at the cloud of the vile insects as they swarmed. “I don’t even have blood! What’re they after!” 

Dream hid a smile behind his glove. “You made them, you deal with them.”

The spiders had joined in, crawling up his arm and leaving webbing on his phalanges. “Please Dream! They itch! Ouch!”

The guardian giggled. Several tiny heads turned as he released his aura. The bugs hummed and swayed, chasing the positive sensation. Like a pied piper, Dream easily led the creatures to the garden. Ink scratched at the marks they had left on his cheekbone. He’d have to be more careful about that. But, his point still stood. What was he doing? He laid his skull in his arms and waited for Dream to return.

The guardian strolled in and took a seat on the bed beside him. 

“So, why did you let him out?” Ink asked. “He could’ve hurt you.”

“He was still wearing the magic suppressor Sci gave us….and I think I made some progress,” Dream said. Ink’s right eye light blinked to an orange question mark.

“He was almost like he used to be.” Dream’s own eyes glowed softly. “His old happiness was shining through. But, it was weaker than it should have been.”

Ink thumped his skull into the bed sheets. That wasn’t progress. It was the same thing Dream had been telling him every time he asked for the last few days. Blue’s true self had to still be in there but, he was being blocked by Nightmare’s magic. Ink’s throat clenched as he thought about what that must be like, to be stuck inside your own head while your body moved and lied to those around you. The little guy must be so scared. 

“He asked for help, Ink.” 

Ink’s skull shot up. 

Dust sprinkled the sheets as an old book was placed on them. Dream pushed it towards him. “We were reading this when he said, what if the character in the story needed help from someone else.”

Ink turned the book in his hands. “You think he was talking about himself?” 

“Positive! I think he was trying to explain how to help him.” Dream’s eye lights dimmed. “But, the second he mentioned well…my brother, his hands clamped his mouth shut.”

Ink’s phalanges dug into the cover. He wasn’t surprised. Of course Nightmare would put a fail-safe in to prevent his toys from telling others how to free them. It was just another way that fiend was teasing him, letting a glimpse of his friend shine through before tearing that hope away again. Ink had to stop his hand reaching for more yellow.

Dream squirmed. “I don’t want to say it…but I think he meant my brother’s the only one who can undo this.”

“You want to go begging to Nightmare?!!” Ink almost sent the book flying as he jumped up. “We’d have a better chance convincing a Froggit to sing opera! It won’t work!”

“Neither have the potions or anything else.”

Ink stiffened. He clenched his fist around his vial again and fought the urge to chug the whole thing. Were they really considering this? Blue was worth it but, it was walking into the mouth of a lion and praying not to be swallowed. It was borderline suicide, worse.

Dream must have noticed his expression. Ink’s eye lights usually gave him away. He could fake them like he had with Blue but, they never fooled Dream. 

“I don’t want to talk to him, I want to capture him.” Dream said.

A question mark flashed across Ink’s vision again. “How?”

The guardian tapped his phalanges against the bed frame in a strange echoing beat. Ink cringed; If Dream didn’t have an idea he could just say so. He flicked through the book in an effort to distract himself from the noise. 

A wide smirk crossed his skull. “This is from Dreamtale?”

“Yes.” Dream muttered.

“Then I have an idea.”

\-----

Ink unwound his scarf with a swish and skimmed the meticulous notes Dream had helped him write. A collaborative project had been daunting at first but, the other’s love and excitement once they began had been so infectious. 

The desolate world of Dreamtale had come to life under his brush and the guardian’s direction. Lush grass swept away the old bloodstains. Red skies had been replaced with clear air and balmy sunshine. But, he was sitting on the crowning achievement. 

A slender trunk sprouted thick limbs which flowed out into a maze of thinning twigs as frail as glass. Every leaf was a gemstone, reflecting the light of the golden apples that sang with Dream’s magic. Ink sometimes marveled at his own skill. The reborn tree of emotions was a beacon of life and he couldn’t help wondering at the way it lit up the landscape around them.

Branches creaked under his weight. He added more paint to strengthen them before he forgot and ended up ripping out half the leaves tumbling off the limb like a panicked bouncy ball…again.

How in the multiverse did Dream move so easily through this fragile foliage? Every step Ink took caused a shudder from the tree that threatened to send him spiraling. Yet, Dream danced from limb to limb with an experienced intimacy as easily as Ink might trace the tattoos on his own body. The guardian’s expression was distant, gazing with wide eyed affection at the fairy lights of golden apples surrounding them. Branches stroked his skull with a gentle tenderness. Dream almost purred as he nuzzled them, lost in memory. “Hi mom.”

Ink choked on his paint. 

What!? 

Was Nightmare really so unhinged that he would’ve murdered his own mother in a fit of rage?! 

The thick fluid turned sour on Ink’s tongue as dark bile leaked from behind his teeth. What must that have been like for Dream? To have everything taken away in an instant, your home, your brother, your only parent!? Damn that octopus, hadn’t he done enough? Ink scrubbed the vomit from his mouth until it burned.

“Do you really think he’ll come alone?” he asked.

Dream froze midway through adding more of his magic into another squishy overripe apple. “Yes, whatever else this is…personal.” 

Ink didn’t doubt that. The second the two of them released the rumor that they were trying to recreate the tree of emotions no one had been able to discuss anything else. If Nightmare really wanted to solidify his reputation as the king of darkness he wouldn’t be able to resist tearing it to shreds with his own hands. Well, he was in for a nasty surprise. Ink burrowed into a dense cluster of leaves and settled down to wait. 

\-----

His eye sockets snapped open. Dream stopped shaking him and placed a phalange to his lips before Ink could say anything. The guardian pointed downwards. Nightmare stood directly below them at the base of the tree. Ink cursed himself for falling asleep on the job. How long had that demon been there? He scanned the area for any trace of the rest of the Dark Sanses but, he had been right. Nightmare had come alone. 

The dark skeleton ran his hand over the rough trunk. He sounded every bit like the wild beast he was as he snarled at Ink’s creation. 

“Is this supposed to be funny?” Nightmare asked. 

Two of his tentacles seized a low hanging branch and yanked him up. Nightmare prowled through the foliage. His tendrils lashed out, spitting tar that stained the leaves an inky black. Ink fought not to shuffle backwards as some almost struck his cheek. Cold sweat dripped down his brow. 

He had seen Nightmare upset before but, this was different. The other’s eye light didn’t burn as it normally would. It was cold, analyzing everything as if he could disintegrate it with a glance. His breath tore at the air in ragged pants. If he came any closer, Ink would be able to reach out and touch the shadowy sludge. He tightened his grip on one of the golden apples. Nightmare’s gaze snapped towards the movement. 

A twig curled itself around the dark skeleton’s hand. Nightmare pulled away as if he had been burned. 

“Get off me!” He roared. “You’re not real!”

The twig wasn’t discouraged. Several more wrapped around Nightmare’s tentacles, tenderly clenching them the same way they had his hand. Another branch reached towards his face. Nightmare made no attempt to break out this time. Rather, he weakened under the branch as it touched him. The limb caressed his skull no differently than it had Dream, kind, understanding, _forgiving_.

“Not real. Not her” The dark skeleton muttered. All the same, he leaned into the contact and closed his eye.

Ink’s grip slackened as he watched the change. He had never seen Nightmare so helpless. The other had withdrawn his tentacles and appeared to be asleep against his mother. Sometimes he forgot but, from this distance he looked so much like Dream. They shared the same bone structure, the same smile, even the way they hummed when they were happy. Was it an act? How could it be? He didn’t know they were there. The apple slipped in his hand.

Dream lifted it and closed his phalanges around Ink’s. The guardian’s eye lights were barely there. They glanced back and forth between his brother and the apple in his own grasp. At last, he mouthed a single word to Ink.

_Blue_

The golden fruit exploded on impact with Nightmare’s skull. A hiss broke through the sound of snapping twigs as the dark skeleton clawed at the positive magic eating through his protective tar. He stumbled and fell to the ground with a stomach-turning cross between a splat and a crack. 

Ink and Dream didn’t give him any chance to recover. The pair pummeled the demon with the remaining fruit. Although, Nightmare tried to beat back the assault with his tendrils the juice from the bursting apples only stuck to them. It crackled against the sludge. The singed stink made Ink’s eye sockets water.

“Ink! careful!” Dream said.

A tentacle dripping with glowing nectar snatched Ink’s ankle. He was whipped through the air and beat against the ground in rapid succession. Gasps racked his chest as he fought for breath between the slams. 

Dream leapt from the tree and landed with a skid. “Stop it!” 

“No.” Nightmare growled. His eye lights traced the last batch of apples in Dream’s arms. “Drop those first.”

Ink shook his skull as he dangled above the pair. Please Dream no, not when they were so close!

The fruit tumbled from the guardian’s hold and hit the ground with a splatter. Nightmare smirked.

It was quickly wiped off his face when the tree trembled. Without any of Dream’s magic to hold it together it began to melt back into paint. The trunk tilted forward. Leaves ruptured into a rain of green fluid that dosed the trio like tears. Dream looked away and even Nightmare couldn’t suppress a cry at its demise.

That was all the distraction Ink needed to unsheathe Broomie and strike the king of negativity between the eyes with a deadening crack. Nightmare’s face was locked in an expression of pure shock as his eye light died and he slumped back onto the ground with a thud. 

Ink bounced to his feet, shaking dirt from his clothes. It only took a few seconds for him to fashion a web of iron chains to hold Nightmare. He tightened the bonds and shot what he hoped was a confident or at least reassuring grin to Dream. “That was close wasn’t it?”

Dream didn’t answer. He picked up one of the chains and opened a portal, avoiding going anywhere near the pool of paint that stained the landscape. Ink picked at a green mark on his glove. The AU was once again nothing more than a grey wasteland, except now a puddle of mossy green dye submerged the lone stump. The synthetic scent would normally be calming but, it didn’t feel right here, in the lost garden. Ink’s body shook. A jab of heaviness tore through his chest. Before the tears could wet his sockets he flung his head back and chugged down some yellow. 

He gave a laugh as the sweet syrupy fluid jolted his system. Dream would feel better when this was all over. This was it! They were getting Blue back! What was the point in getting upset over how they had done it? Even if he had maybe mentally scarred his friend by making him watch his mother die a second…more yellow.

His body twitched with the second dose. Ink fought not to giggle as he and Dream dragged the dark skeleton through a portal back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time writing dual POV and I had to choose opposite view points. Wish me luck.


	5. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ink interrogates Nightmare

Ink marched down a staircase that hadn’t been there a few hours ago. The walls were too close, too plain; he had to remind himself that they were not moving as he approached a thick oak door at the end of the hallway. Ink allowed himself five minutes to gulp back mouthfuls of the hot air. With an almost steady hand he fished a key from his pocket and opened it.

A wave of chilling air struck him as the door swung open. A dim bulb dangling from the ceiling cast long shadows across the stone walls. Yet, only the shades of the shabby wooden table and two chairs beside the doorframe were visible. Defying all logic, the light halted at the far wall. The mass of shadows nesting there shifted to face him. Nightmare leaned back, crossing his arms. He barely seemed to notice the iron manacles that fastened his tentacles to the wall, his feet to the ground or the handcuffs around his wrists. The only reaction he gave Ink was a mildly disapproving gaze, as if he were watching a small child he had caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

“You’re not a very gracious host, I certainly didn’t expect to wait five hours before anyone came to say hello.” 

“You’re not a guest.” Ink said. The lock clicked as he closed the door.

Nightmare waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Pull up a seat.”

Ink took a chair for himself and pushed the second one towards the other skeleton. Nightmare regarded it with a sour grimace. “I can’t reach that. Push it closer.”

Ink scowled. He unsheathed his brush and used it to nudge the seat forward.

“Closer.” Nightmare said. Ink clenched his teeth and sent the chair flying with a whack. 

Nightmare dodged to the side, picked it up and seated himself. “Thank you.”

Ink lowered himself into his own chair and glared at Nightmare. This was what he had been waiting for. If anyone could bring Blue back it was the person who had taken him away to begin with. “Tell me how to undo what you did to Blue.” 

“Direct, not the way I would have done it but, why not?” Nightmare smirked as he ran his eye light over Ink. “I can’t, there’s nothing wrong with him.”

Heat rose through Ink’s skull. He reminded himself that expecting an easy answer from Nightmare would have been asking way too much. “Liar, you’re controlling him with your magic, the same way you control everyone in your gang. If you tell me how to undo it maybe we can discuss letting you leave without too many scars.”

“That’s dark Ink. I know you’ve fought me before but, I never pegged you as someone with the stomach for torture.” Nightmare said. He casually shrugged his shoulders and sunk back into his seat. “But, I don’t have mind control powers. I never did.”

Ink’s phalanges gripped his armrest. He pulled himself halfway to his feet and opened his mouth to counter the dark skeleton.

A sneer broke out across Nightmare’s skull. “But, that’s what someone with mind control powers would say right?”

Ink choked back a scream. Nightmare was messing with him! Did he think this was some kind of joke? Yes, probably. What would the king of negativity care if Blue stayed a mindless puppet for the rest of his life, even if Nightmare couldn’t use his friend against him he would be perfectly happy to let Blue rot rather than give up one of his toys! 

Ink’s chest pounded. He snatched his yellow vial from his belt and sipped. His body unwound as calm flowed through him. 

“Why do you rely on those things so much?” Nightmare asked.

Ink raised his skull. That was a strange question, Nightmare already knew the answer. He needed his paints. They gave him the ability to feel things, without them he would just be an empty shell and he was grateful every day that he had been blessed with them. Ink rolled the vial in his hand, letting the light gleam off the surface. They were wonderful. 

“Do you really need to take them so often?” the dark skeleton asked.

“Of course I –“ 

“I mean do you need to take them in such uneven measures? Look at your belt. The yellow one is almost empty while the red and blue vials are three thirds full. I don’t think you’ve ever touched the black in your life. If you took every color in equal amounts you would have the full spectrum to draw from so you could feel your emotions naturally as they came to you.” Nightmare drummed his phalanges against his handcuffs as he spoke. “But, you never do.” 

What was he talking about? Nightmare didn’t know anything about him or his vials. Yes, maybe he wasn’t as adventurous as he could be with some of his emotions. But, they were his and he had a right to feel however he wanted! 

“My paints are none of your business!” Ink growled.

Nightmare laughed. The sound ricocheted around the room echoing into a crowd of voices. “I’m the guardian of negativity Ink. Emotions have been my business for centuries. Paint, real they all sing the same song and yours is horribly out of tune.” 

A snarl escaped from behind Ink’s teeth. Should he take another gulp of yellow? No, that would only prove Nightmare’s point and he wasn’t giving him the satisfaction. Ink lay back and curled his phalanges into fists to stop them shaking.

Nightmare eventually calmed down. He gave out a long breath and rested his skull on his hands. “But, is it enough?” 

Okay, Ink had concluded that Nightmare was talking nonsense. The other skeleton was just trying to distract him so he didn’t have to talk about the reason he was here. His phalanges dug into his palms.

“Why do you create so many AUs?” Nightmare asked, tilting his skull.

See, that was another question that Nightmare already knew the answer to! He created AUs because he was the creator, the artist. It was his duty to make AUs and care for their residents. He treasured them! Something that a murderer like Nightmare could _never_ understand! Ink doubted the other had loved anything since he gave his soul up to darkness.

It was getting harder to ignore the burning heat in his chest. His hand unconsciously rose from the chair and fiddled with his belt.

“How many AUs are in the multiverse right now? Error hasn’t destroyed anything since Blue came back here so you must be reaching some kind of record” Nightmare’s eye light blazed for a moment before he blinked and the flame returned to its tranquil glow.

Ink flinched. He didn’t know. He had been meaning to work out some kind of system to keep track of the AUs. Several plans were scrawled on the inside of his scarf but, somehow he always got distracted and put it off.

“How ‘s Littletale?” Nightmare asked.

Ink didn’t know. He hadn’t been there for at least a few years. It was usually too peaceful to worry about.

“Underfell, number 302?”

He didn’t know that either. Had he really made over three hundred Underfells? He knew he sometimes made copies of AUs he liked but, that many? Nightmare must be joking.

“Is the civil war over yet?”

“WHAT!?” Ink exclaimed, jumping up. He hadn’t heard about that. 

But, would he have been able to deal with it if he had? There were thousands of AUs and he knew at least a hundred or so were usually involved in some kind of war at any one time. He couldn’t be expected to get involved with all of them. He was only one person. But, wasn’t that his job? Being there for them? 

_No! He couldn’t think like that! This had to be Nightmare’s magic!_

Ink tried to focus on tracing the lines on his sleeves to steady his thumping nerves. Nightmare’s voice interrupted his meditation.

“You can’t keep ignoring this Ink. You don’t love your AUs, you just love making them. You create whenever the mood takes you regardless of what you’re making or why. You’re irresponsible. Just a kid getting excited over a new plaything and throwing it away when something better comes along. How many worlds were born into misery just because you thought a specific idea would be _fun to make_?” Nightmare asked. His phalanges had begun to drum faster against the handcuffs in an irregular rhythm. The sound pounded like a hammer against Ink’s skull.

Ink knew he didn’t always create the happiest AUs, the Fellswaps, Swapfells and all those Underfells were proof of that. But, at the time, the ideas just seemed so exciting, so alive! He had wanted to see them so badly, to experience their stories. But, the people he had damned to live there were real. Had he even considered them before he drew his brush? 

_No, no, no! He couldn’t let Nightmare into his head. He’d end up like Blue!_

He wrapped his arms around himself and shook. His stomach had become a void; pulling everything down into it. 

Nightmare sucked at the air, adding something new to the din. His tar darkened with every breath. “Does Dream know how many dangerous miserable worlds you’ve let fall by the wayside or have you hid those from him? The ones who need him the most?” 

Bile rose in Ink’s throat. He never hid anything from Dream…but, the guardian couldn’t enter or even sense truly negative worlds. 

_Just a pet helping the king of negativity spread chaos and pain across the multiverse. Not for some greater purpose but, for the occasional head pat from his tyrannical master._

“What would he think if I told him?”

“SHUT UP!” Ink cried. He pulled a blade from his pocket and held it against one of the other’s captive tentacles. His hand trembled. He had…he had never tried to hurt someone who couldn’t fight back before. Maybe if he took some red?...or-

“Losing your nerve?” Nightmare said.

Ink clenched his teeth. Of course this demon wouldn’t think twice about hurting someone. He was glad he wasn’t like that.

“It’s fine Ink. This just shows you still have a little compassion.” Nightmare’s gaze turned to meet his. The flame blazed. “Now tell me why you couldn’t show any of that to Blue? How many seconds did it take you to knock him unconscious after he came back?”

Ink stumbled away from the dark skeleton and toppled back into his chair. He wasn’t like that! 

“I heard it was twenty, give or take.” Nightmare said.

He wasn’t…Dream …Blue…His creations. Voices of fear, rage, and sorrow all screamed in Ink’s skull for attention. The result was a mind splitting agony that drilled into his brain like a white hot poker. 

Nightmare’s smirk widened “Welcome home Blue!”

A kaleidoscope of shapes raced across Ink’s vision, fighting to keep up with the swirling storm. A cold sweat drenched his skull as the breathing techniques he had seen in movies did nothing to ease the pounding drum in his rib cage. 

Screw it! He had to calm down! 

He snatched the yellow vial from his belt. However, his shaking hands only fumbled with the heart shaped stopper. A clatter rang out as the bottle slid from his grasp and rolled along the floor.

Ink jumped up after it, his shoe caught on the chair leg. A sharp pain shot up his tibia as his kneecap struck the stone ground. He grasped the injured bone and held back a cry of agony. 

“You always had the option to stick to paint and paper Ink. You never needed to use your magic to bring your work to life. But, that wasn’t grand enough for you was it? You wanted to be important, the protector, the hero of thousands of worlds. You walk into an AU and they cheer your name. You need that praise because it’s the only way a soulless little skeleton like you can feel like you mean anything. It doesn’t matter if your creations live or die once you abandon them. You just need more people to keep cheering.”

Twin snaps of breaking metal echoed in the isolated chamber. Nightmare cupped Ink’s skull in his hand, broken handcuffs dangled uselessly from his wrists. The sticky phalanges raised Ink’s chin so he was staring directly at the other's face. The king of negativity wore a gentle smile. His eye light was an inferno that consumed Ink’s vision and in a freed tendril he twirled the yellow vial, holding it over him.

“Yes, Blue was telling the truth. My gang have destroyed hundreds of AUs. But, that’s only because you force us to. The multiverse can’t hold them all; if it reached max capacity everything would collapse and take all of us with it.” Nightmare leaned closer.

“You don’t really believe that I’m a liar, oh God of Creation…You just can’t handle having that kind of blood on your hands!”

Ink screamed. He clambered to his feet and bolted for the door. Another tentacle smashed through its bonds, encasing his leg. Marrow broke through the tips of Ink’s phalanges as he desperately clawed at the ground. But, Nightmare only continued to grin as his appendages gently lifted Ink back into his arms. Ink weakly struggled against the tentacles around his limbs. He wanted to move, to fight harder. However, the weight on his mind from Nightmare’s words still haunted him. Despair closed in around him like a vice.

He reached out to the vial in the other’s tentacle. Light passed through the golden liquid as it moved away from his grasping hands. “Please give it back. Make it stop”

Nightmare delicately stroked Ink’s cheek. “It’ll be okay, you just need to gain some balance.” 

He took the black vial from Ink’s belt and removed the stopper. The dark skeleton’s hand squeezed Ink’s cheek bones, forcing his mouth open. 

“The first step is facing yourself. If you don’t have any hatred in you then this won’t hurt at all…But, I think we both know that’s not the case and judging from that expression you already know where all this loathing is going to be directed,” Nightmare said.

Ink trembled in the other’s grasp; a tear-shaped eye light begged for mercy that he knew wasn’t coming.

“Close your eyes, Ink.”

Ink did.


	6. Resolve

A meteor storm of light arrows pierced Nightmare’s bones. The dark skeleton had no choice but to raise his tendrils to fend off the onslaught. Ink’s body fell; the sound of breaking glass assaulted his senses as the black and yellow vials shattered against the floor. 

“INK RUN!” Dream cried. 

Ink opened his eyes. The guardian of positivity was standing in the doorway to the cell frantically launching arrows at his brother. Dream gasped as one of Nightmare’s tentacles managed to break through his defenses and smashed him against a wall. 

“DREAM!” Ink screamed. 

The tendril gained a nasty red sizzling stain as he stuck it aside with his paintbrush. Ink stood protectively over his friend and glared at Nightmare. The skeleton had withdrawn his tentacles once the rain of arrows had ceased, he casually reached up and plucked the projectiles from his body. They came out of the tar with a sickly slurping sound. Ink cringed as he noticed a spider web of cracks had spread from under the back of Dream’s crown. He fixed his eye lights on Nightmare as he lifted Dream’s arm onto his shoulder and pulled him to his feet. 

Dream’s eyes flickered open, they were hazy and unfocused. However, they eventually fell on Nightmare. “Brother?” 

The dark skeleton discarded the final arrow; his voice took on a dark tone as he addressed his sibling. “That’s right, I’m here. What you pulled on Dreamtale was vicious. Does family mean so little to you now?” 

Dream shuddered.

Nightmare didn’t stop. “Was it Ink’s idea? To dig up our mother’s body and kill her again. Did he tell you that would happen or did he keep it to himself?”

Ink backed away. He didn’t know! Dream had to see that!

His gaze snapped to his friend. Dream’s eye lights were still dazed. He looked to his brother with a sad affection. Although he didn’t make any efforts to pull away from Ink, his body leaned forward as if an invisible thread tugged him towards his counterpart. 

Nightmare’s voice softened to a soothing whisper. “I miss you. I miss how we used to be.” 

Oh stars no.

He opened his arms to his brother. “I’m so sick of fighting. Let go of Ink, come to me, we can discuss everything just the two of us.”

Dream took a step.

The knob almost broke free as Ink yanked the door open and fled through it, dragging his friend behind him. Ragged pants tore through his throat as he turned the lock. He allowed himself a second to rest before he turned to check on Dream.

The guardian was stretched out across the floor. Ink grabbed his shoulders and vigorously shook him.

“Dream can you hear me?” he asked.

The other’s eye lights rolled back in his skull. His mouth was ajar. Was Dream still recovering from the shock or was it Nightmare’s magic? Please not the latter, he was only in there for a minute. It couldn’t work that fast, could it? Nightmare was powerful but, so was Dream. Did the fact that they were siblings make Dream more vulnerable to his brother’s magic?

The dazed expression cleared from the guardian’s skull. However, it was replaced by a lost frown as Dream looked back to the cell door.

Tears pricked at Ink’s eye sockets again. He clung to his friend as if he was afraid he might blow away. 

Please no, he couldn’t lose Dream too. He couldn’t lock his friend up with Blue and continue this fight alone. The image of Dream screaming at him the way Blue had sometimes, calling him careless, a thoughtless creator filled his thoughts. He buried his skull in the guardian’s chest, desperate sobs tore through him. 

He’d almost lost it in there. He’d give in. He’d let Nightmare take him just to be with the two of them again. The three Star Sanses at the end of the dark king’s leash watching his multiverse burn.

A gentle hand on the back of his skull brought him back. Ink sighed as Dream’s warm aura washed over him. The guardian‘s phalanges stroked his skull the way they always did after one of his tantrums or sulks, kind and reassuring. Ink let the other pull him into an embrace. His grip loosened but, he didn’t let go. His tears slowly dried as the other comforted him.

“It’s alright Ink,” Dream said. “I’ve got you.”

“I thought-“ 

Dream held him tighter. “I...I know that’s not my brother anymore. It’s…It’s just a demon…trying…trying to hurt us.” 

Ink removed the other’s crown and winced. The cracks had doubled in length. He took a small paintbrush from his pocket and painted over the injury. Dream’s body relaxed into him as the wound disappeared. Ink straightened and held the other’s shoulders.

“Please don’t go in there again,” he said.

Dream’s eyes widened. “But, you screamed!”

“No!” Ink shivered as the dark vision of Dream teased his thoughts again. He clawed at the space where his yellow vial used to be. 

“I can break him! Just…just…” Ink sank back into himself as he trailed off. 

Dream took the other’s hands in his. “Okay. I’ll trust you.”

\-----

Ink lay on his bed, staring at a blank section of his scarf. He had replaced the two vials he had lost during the interrogation and was still finding it difficult to stop touching them to make sure they were still there. Blue poked his skull around the open door frame.

“You’ve been in here for two hours, are you okay?” he asked.

Ink groaned. He didn’t want to see Blue right now. He had failed him. As long as Nightmare could feed on his emotions he wouldn’t be able to risk trying to interrogate him again. Hell, even if he did try again he doubted that creature would give up anything easily, what else was there?

Blue snatched his hand. “You need sunshine! Up and out!”

Before Ink could protest he was heaved onto Blue’s shoulders and piggy backed out the garden door by the racing skeleton.

Ink pushed himself off the over excited Sans. Grass prodded his nose, shoving dirt into the cavity. He sneezed.

“What’re you doing out here anyway?” Ink asked.

“Training,” Blue said.

Huh? What was the point in training? Blue couldn’t use his magic as long as that collar blocked it. Blue bolted away and shuffled through a pile of random items Ink recognized as having being taken from his room. With a dramatic flourish, the little skeleton pulled out a pair of roller skates.

“Race me!” he said.

Ink smirked and lifted his brush. “Too slow.” 

In ten minutes, Ink was standing proudly upon two large gaster blasters. Blue bounded onto his, posed dramatically and pointed forward. “Mush, girl!”

Ink wondered if he should’ve made him a less sensitive one as the blaster threw the little skeleton off. Blue landed in a pile of leaves and spent the next few seconds apologizing to the skull for misgendering it.

“Let me show you how it’s done.” Ink said. 

He stood upon his own blaster and shot into the air. Crisp wind billowed through his clothes as he zigzagged through the sky. The skull was solid under his feet and the whirl of the spins was electrifying. Ink wondered if Blue was impressed by his skill. 

It wasn’t until he reached the top of a loop-de-loop that he realized something important. 

Blasters didn’t come with seat belts. 

Pizza ducks fled for their lives in every direction as Ink plummeted into their pond. He spat out a mouthful of earthy water and promised to fix that flaw if he had to track down every Sans in the multiverse. Blue’s voice rang out from above him.

“CANNONBALL!”

Uh oh.

Ink strode onto the bank, dripping with a strange mix of pond water, tomato juice and pepperoni. Thankfully, his vials were sealed. He chuckled as Blue sploshed out after him. The little Sans shook himself like a puppy and immediately charged towards the blaster. 

“Again!” he said. “As long as I stand, I won’t accept defeat!” 

As Blue dove onto the skull, his soaking clothes set him sliding off the other side. He landed flat on his stomach in a puddle. “Drat!”

Ink erupted into laughter. He had missed this.

“You look like you’re having fun.” Dream strolled towards the pair carrying towels. He must have seen the scene from the kitchen window.

Oh yes, Ink wasn’t about to pass this up. He opened his arms. “Awww Dream. I just fell…I need a hug to make it all better.” 

The guardian paled as he took in the murky water dripping from Ink, the red fluids and the stink of soggy meat. “No.”

“Yes.” Ink grinned.

“NO!” Dream yelped. He bolted for the base holding his regal clothes away from the messy skeleton.

Ink took off after him. “Get back here you neat freak! I will have vengeance for what you did to my room! Blue stop him!” 

The little Sans sped pass, surfing a blaster and smiling his head off. “Sorry Dream!” 

He lunged from the skull. The guardian wailed as the wet skeleton tackled him. He wailed louder as Ink joined in. Dream clambered out of the stack, drenched, squelching and pouting at the pair. “Happy?”

Ink snorted. “Very, hey!” 

He thrashed as he was toweled off. The material was scratchy against his bones and Dream had to hold him down to get him completely dry. The guardian stood back with a smirk. 

“There, all better,” he said. Dream threw another towel to Blue and headed back inside.

Ink straightened his clothes and looked to the smaller skeleton. “You could’ve defended me.”

“From one of Dream’s grooming attacks?” Blue asked. “I may be brave and wonderful and,,,”

Ink smiled. “Magnificent?”

“Exactly! But, amazing as it may be, even I have limits. You’re lucky he didn’t try to use bone whitener again.” Blue said.

Ink shuddered. He had learned a hard lesson that day. Don’t let Dream near Mettaton’s cosmetic line and it was a lot harder to paint a birthmark back onto your own face than it looked.

One of the pizza ducks waddled up to him and settled on his lap. Ink pet it.

“These little guys are so cute. Maybe I should make an AU for them.” Ink said. “I could make a whole set of food based worlds!” His eye lights lit up, stars sparking. “Fruit, candy, chocolate, sugar, there’s so many possibilities! What do you think?” 

He froze when he turned to Blue. The small skeleton frowned.

Ink shivered at the expression. It was far too close to how Nightmare had looked at him when he first entered his cell, disappointed and…pitying. Ink’s chest ached. If Nightmare was right then he deserved that look. But…that also meant. Color bleached out of the world around him. He held his skull in his hands, Blue’s worried voice echoed far away as white swallowed his vision.

He wasn’t back there. He would never go back there. He wasn’t a demon like Nightmare. He was important, loved and no one would send him back to the anti-void. He had to keep telling himself that or he’d go mad. If Nightmare was right, he would be alone again, he would lose everyone and he would deserve it. Ink dug his phalanges into the grass and reminded himself that it was real. What he was, was real.

Nightmare was a liar, the villain. He had been killing long before Ink had learned to create at the rate he did now and he wouldn’t slow down an inch if Ink was gone. If he was chased out of the multiverse Dream would be facing the gang, Error and that fiend alone. That was all Nightmare wanted. To hurt, kill and destroy and Ink had to be there to stop him. 

It was what heroes did.

The world settled back into focus. Blue tugged at his sleeve and pleaded for Ink to speak to him. Ink shrugged him off. This wasn’t his friend. Blue was in there. But, this thing wasn’t him. He stood, ignoring the puppets protests. 

As he headed back inside he lifted a vial to his teeth and chugged it. This…this was the right choice.

\-----

The door to Nightmare’s cell opened again. The king of negativity sat against the wall. This time he wore a strait jacket which glittered with titanium locks. He lifted his skull to look at Ink.

“What did you choose?” he asked.

Ink stared blankly. He wasn’t sure he understood what the other skeleton was asking. Everything was dull, hollow. His eye lights were gone, replaced by emptiness. He had decided not to bring his other vials. Only the empty white bottle dangled from his belt.

Ink stiffly carried a cloth bundle to the table and opened it. He removed a hammer.


	7. Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to Blue's POV.

The ball made a whack sound as it bounced off the wall. Moonlight streamed through Blue’s bedroom window, reflecting off the shackles that lay in a forgotten heap at the end of his bed. He barely felt the collar anymore. His body buzzed. Maybe Dream would take it off soon. 

The door opened and Blue almost threw up.

Nightmare staggered through the entrance and collapsed onto the floor with a wet splat. One of his hands was unrecognizable; most of the phalanges had been crushed. His femurs were peppered with cracks that spread out in uneven fissures. 

But, it was the tentacles that made Blue’s stomach lunge the most. A stench of burnt tar struck him full in the face and stuck to the back of his throat. Long bubbling groves torn through the tendrils, glowing an ugly crimson. Three had been pounded flat. They curled around Nightmare defensively but, they couldn’t block Ink’s kick to the ribs.

“Get up demon!” Ink said. “We had a deal and you don’t get to back out of it now.”

“Nighty!” Blue tripped over the bed sheets as he threw himself over the injured skeleton. “Dream! Heal him!”

The positive guardian trembled in the door frame, his back to the others.

“Dream don’t ignore me! He’s your brother!”

Ink watched the scene with a scowl. Blue didn’t care. What good was the mask now? His soul was heavy in his chest as he collapsed on top of Nightmare, trying to check for the other’s breath. He let out a sigh of relief as the dark skeleton’s eye light shimmered into existence. Yet, it was far dimmer and paler than it should have been, almost clear. 

He didn’t have healing magic like the two guardians did but, the gang had told him it was possible for strong magic users to transfer power into objects, like how Dream had made that chain. Surely, healing magic was like that…if he could.

Blue groaned as the collar hummed. 

He held Nightmare as best he could, avoiding the worst of his wounds. How had everything gone so wrong? Wasn’t he making progress? 

Something was slipped into his pocket from within Nightmare’s tar. Before Blue could check what it was a hand gripped his chin. The dark Sans pulled himself into a sitting position and turned Blue’s skull so they directly faced each other. The pale eye light flashed, pulsing slowly in the moonlight. Blue sagged forward into the other’s chest but, he kept his skull tilted upwards towards Nightmare. He knew what this was. The other skeleton had used sleep magic on him before. Usually, whenever he was hurt or a particularly devastating sugar rush needed to be stopped immediately. 

He didn’t fight it. He needed to talk to Nightmare alone. Maybe he would know what to do. 

Pale blue magic radiated from Nightmare’s tentacles as they patted his skull. It wasn’t like Dream’s magic had been during that twisted attempt to fix him. It was gentle, allowing him the chance to let it in rather than forcing itself on him. He moved closer to the other’s eye light. Cold energy hummed between his phalanges as he intertwined his with the other’s uninjured ones. The magic made his head spin. He floated away into a calm welcome sleep. 

\-----

The dreamscape was the same as Blue remembered it, dark, cold and containing nothing except a rug and a tatty couch where Nightmare was lounging. 

Blue slunk onto it and thanked the stars that his friend’s wounds didn’t carry over into this place. “What did they do?”

“It’s alright Blue.” Nightmare said. “I’ve felt worse and there really wasn’t any other way to get to you.”

“For what?” Blue asked. The dark skeleton pointed off into the distance.

As Blue watched, four skeletons charged into view from the darkness, cheering and waving. Great, another memory of the gang. How were these illusions meant to help? Wait, which memory was this?

He was sent flying back into the cushions as the mass of bodies tackled him, each gibbering over each other.

“Blue! Are you alright?” Killer asked.

“Dust has been worried sick!” Cross said.

Dust crossed his arms. “Have not!”

Horror rolled his eye light at the other skeleton. “Oh, so I didn’t find you sniffling over his things yesterday?”

“Allergies!” 

“To emotions.” Horror sniggered.

The dusty skeleton snatched a cushion and immediately started pummeling the others with it. His skull shone bright scarlet. 

Blue pulled himself up and stared in wide eyed confusion. “How are you all here?”

As a group, everyone stopped and pulled up their sleeves to reveal black bandanas on each of their arms. The cloth sparkled with pale blue specks of magic, identical to Nightmare’s. Blue reached into his pocket and withdrew what had been slipped in there earlier. The same cut of cloth hung from his hands.

Cross grinned. “Cool huh? It took ages to get it right and test it.”

Dust hit him with the cushion again. “You were asleep for most of the trail runs.” 

“Exactly. Testing.” Cross laughed as he scooped up a weapon for himself and struck back. The group soon descended into a tangle of bodies either trying to join the battle or escape it. Blue ducked to avoid the cross fire. He was glad to see everyone, but…

“How does this help?” he asked. “Our real selves are still stuck at the base.”

Nightmare lifted the bandana in Blue’s hand up. A sweet scent wafted from it. Faint golden streaks glittered deep within the fabric. Blue licked it. The taste was crisp; it was full of a sugary magic that sent a jolt of cheer through his soul, apple juice and positivity.

“Initially, it was meant to be a present for after we got you out of there. But, when those plans didn’t work out I had to make some…emergency modifications.” Nightmare said. “Those two never were any good at searching people. As long as you have it Dream won’t be able to see past any surface emotions and it’ll radiate happiness for you. That should be enough as long as you can act the part while you’re around him.”

Blue stroked the cloth. A strange mix of cold and warmth emitted from it. “I’m not sure I can stay with them after this.”

The gang cheered. Nightmare threw the rug over them.

“Do you think they care about you?” he asked.

“Yes.” Blue said.

“Are they evil?” 

“No.”

“And what about your brother?”

Blue choked. He hadn’t thought about that. If he joined the gang permanently would he still be able to see Stretch or would his brother assume the Dark Sanses were still controlling him whenever he tried to visit? Stretch wouldn’t give up on him of course but, would he join Ink and Dream in his place? Would he spend the rest of his life chasing after a naive sibling that didn’t exist anymore?

Nightmare patted his back. “The multiverse already hated us before we became a gang. No one here had much to lose when they joined.”

Killer poked his head out from under the rug. “Yeah, we really didn’t have much in terms of friends or family.”

Nightmare nodded. “Even if they are idiots, Ink and Dream still care. I lost my brother; I don’t have the right to ask that of you.”

Blue jumped up. “He’s not lost! I think I almost got through to him.”

The other skeleton grinned. “So did I. If you can be patient with them, I will be too.”


	8. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue wakes up.

Ink yanked Blue away from Nightmare as the small skeleton’s eye sockets snapped open. He scanned the other’s expression for something, anything that suggested that demon had kept his promise, that everything hadn’t been for absolutely nothing. Blue clung to him. 

“Ink, I missed you!” Blue said. “Thank you for bringing me back.” 

Ink’s eye sockets flickered. He turned to Dream. The guardian beamed and removed a key from his pocket. The collar around Blue’s throat struck the carpet with a soft thump.

The tension fell from Ink’s bones. The weight of the last few days dissipated as Dream wrapped his arms around the pair. Ink nuzzled his face into Blue’s bandana, trying his best to reassure the small skeleton that everything would be okay, that he didn’t blame his friend for anything he had said or done. It wasn’t his fault and they could be together again. He held his friends like that for what felt like an eternity. The three Star Sanses, this was all he ever wanted.

“I can’t open portals here Ink.” Nightmare said.

Right, he had almost forgotten that thing was still here. Nightmare had slunk onto Blue’s bed and was tearing the sheets up to create bandages for his injures. Ink flinched at the sight of them. Nightmare deserved it of course but, that didn’t mean they didn’t churn his stomach. His phalanges itched as he remembered the hammer in his hands, the splat as it struck the ooze of the other’s tentacles. Maybe he should have stayed whited out until this was over.

Blue dug his face deeper into Ink’s shirt. Ink stroked the little skeleton’s skull, he was so warm and his chest ached with the thought that he had almost lost him. No, he wouldn’t have given this feeling up for the whole multiverse. 

And he wouldn’t let Nightmare ever take him away again.

Ink pulled the dark skeleton off the bed and slammed him into the floor the same way Nightmare had done to him in Dreamtale. 

“We had a deal.” The dark skeleton said. His tone was steady, even in a situation like this Nightmare couldn’t give up his detachment.

Ink scowled. At least it made this easier. “I said I’d let you leave but, you’re too dangerous to just be let go.” 

Yellow paint gushed from his weapon, encasing the monster below him in a sticky sap. Wet sucking noises accompanied the other’s struggles. Nightmare squirmed, thrashing his limbs against the stuff. Ink let out a breath as the goo held. The other glared at him. Ink ignored it. The shirt covering Nightmare’s chest split like rice paper as a pair of hastily painted scissors tore through it, exposing the demon’s black soul.   
Ink reached into his pocket and withdrew a long golden chain. Positive magic hummed from it as it slithered around his wrist. 

“No, put it away!” Blue said. 

Ink snapped his skull around. Blue’s skull was colorless; his gaze was locked on the chain in wide eyed horror. Ink’s chest tightened.

Nightmare laughed. The sound was dead, manic. “What’s wrong Blue? Remembering our game of surrender or suffocate? Your face really matched your namesake that day.”

Ink slapped him. He shot his friend a gentle smile. “It’s all right Blue; you don’t have to be scared of him anymore.”

Blue looked between Ink’s smile and Nightmare’s cold glare. As the dark skeleton lay back, he nodded and hid his face in Dream’s cape.

The chain clanked against itself as it coiled around Nightmare’s soul. Puffs of steam blew through Ink’s phalanges where the heated metal bit into the frigid membrane. The dark Sans winced but, he made no moves to free himself. With a resounding click, the links joined together and bound themselves tight. 

Ink stood, raised his brush and created a window to an empty AU where Nightmare would be able to open his own portals. Even if freeing that demon would likely cause more trouble in the long run, he was still a skeleton of his word…kind of. “Get out; don’t ever try anything like this again.”

He turned away as Nightmare sank into the dark paint stain. The glass of his yellow vial clacked against his phalanges. Which AU would that thing attack after he had recovered? How long would that take? He raised the bottle to his lips.

“Ink?” Blue asked.

Ink’s hand lowered as Dream pulled him into the group hug. Ink let him; Blue’s breath was hot against his cheek and Dream’s hand held his. He closed his eyes. This was all the happiness he needed.


	9. New Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue checks on the gang

A few days later, Blue stepped through a portal and yelped as a beam of light scorched the wall by his skull.

“Whoops.” Dust said. “Not an intruder, sorry.”

Horror handed the dusty skeleton a roll of wallpaper. “I’m not cleaning up your mess anymore, you trigger happy lunatic.”

Blue giggled as the Dust stuck his tongue out at Horror’s back and threw the roll out the window. His blaster gave a yip and chased after it. The sound of shattering glass followed.

“You’re fixing that window too.” Horror said.

Dust cursed.

Cross and Killer carried in a stack of tools. Blue knew everyone had become a little paranoid after what had happened to their leader but, was this necessary? He asked Cross.

“The moat didn’t work.” The black and white skeleton complained. “I expected crocodiles to be friendlier.” 

“Why?!” Killer asked.

Dust swore again as the blaster returned with its prize through another window. It dropped the wallpaper at its master’s feet and gave the fuming skeleton a proud grin.

Nightmare watched the scene from his armchair. The sludge that covered his body still had a few darker clumps of solid slime that clung to him in thick scabs. Bright white bandages decorated his hand and a stench of scorched tar still hung around him. He gave a grin as Blue shuffled towards him.

“Are you okay?” Blue asked.

“My body will mend.” Nightmare removed a bandage and checked the wound beneath.

“And your soul?”

The other skeletons in the room halted in whatever they were doing. Their attention shifted to the pair. Nightmare stroked the area around his chest and let his soul emerge from the gloopy cavity. Blue gasped, he hadn’t had a chance to get a good look at it in the Star Sanses’ base.

The dark apple glowed, casting pin pricks of light across the walls. Rather than camouflaging itself against Nightmare’s body his soul swirled with a multiplicity of colors. Purples, dark blues even hints of green orbited specks of white within the smooth membrane. The king of darkness held the night sky in his hands.

And yet, it squirmed in his grasp. The chain’s light bled into it. Although it didn’t pierce the tissue, the soul sagged inwards where it squeezed. Blue wanted desperately to seize the offending shackle and tear it from his friend. He reached out and brushed his phalanges against the tepid metal. 

He snatched it back as the chain hissed. Nightmare choked. The golden links had clamped down on his soul the second Blue had touched it. The others bolted to his side but, they could only watch as their leader’s skull turned pale. After what felt like hours, Nightmare’s face returned to normal. He wheezed in mouthfuls of air as the shackle loosened its hold. The chain settled back into place, letting out another warning rustle as it lazed against the sweating skeleton.

“Don’t do that.” Nightmare said. He slid the dim soul back into his chest and sank into his chair.

Blue hung his skull. 

Nightmare placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m fine, it stings a little but, I’m not any weaker physically.”

Blue’s eye lights narrowed. “But?”

“I can’t enter the dreamscape anymore.”

His soul lunged. What had he done?! This was his fault. If he’d just kept his mouth shut from the start and tried to be more subtle about convincing the other Star Sanses Nightmare would’ve never had to get involved at all. But as usual, he was the one who rushed in without thinking, the babybones, the one who always needed saving. Nightmare had paid the price for that and him? He got to go home to his brother; he got to be loved by the multiverse as a Star Sanses while the gang rotted in infamy. Maybe he shouldn’t have come here.

“Blue.” Killer’s voice came from behind him. “Welcome back.”

Dust grinned. “I still need your back up when things get dull around here.”

“Blue’ll out prank you one day.” Horror said.

“As if.” Dust snorted.

Why weren’t they angry? They could at least scold him. 

Nightmare pulled himself up. He cringed but, waved Cross away when he tried to help. “I’m not ready to retire yet. Besides, I had it all under control.”

“Liar.” Dust called. 

Nightmare gave him a look that would’ve melted steel. Dust winked at him.

Blue laughed. The sound was clear and musical. It blew away the clouds that had followed him since this had all began and let him just enjoy being here in this moment, with his friends.

Nightmare turned to him. “You have to be one of the most remarkable beings in the multiverse Blue. You’re not weighted down by a belonging to one side or the other. You see them both clearly and can walk among them without prejudice. If we ever want to reach people who hate us we’ll need you. You’ll have to be our link.”

Huh? Was that like an ambassador? He knew Chara was good at that but, him?

Horror nudged him with a shoulder. “You can do it. You’re the magnificent Sans after all.”

Nightmare nodded. “Until we can stage a proper intervention or they grow up a bit, please keep an eye on my little brother and that childish creator.”

Blue’s cheeks burned bright cerulean. His eye lights shone with his normal stars. Hands on hips, he struck his signature pose with his chest puffed out.

“Mwehehheheh!”

\-----

Blue stood before the portal back to Underswap. The edges flickered, blurring the image of his star filled bedroom. The Dark Sanses lumbered upstairs, whispering encouragement to each other between their own uneasy glances back to Nightmare. Blue understood. He wasn’t looking forward to facing his night terrors alone either. 

The black bandanas had lost their teal sparkle once Nightmare’s dream based magic had been sealed. Yet, Blue wasn’t ready to put his away as the others had theirs. He would wear it secretly as a Star Sanses and openly as a Dark Sanses. The positive magic in it was needed to keep his cover and he didn’t see it as a reminder of failure. It was a mark of his link to both sides. He would wear it with pride. 

“I won’t see you in my dreams tonight will I?” Blue asked.

Nightmare looked up from his book. “No, but I promise we’ll all be waiting here for you when you wake up.”

\-----

Halfway across the multiverse, Ink’s brush flashed. Red and white sugar coated trees burst from splashes of paint that flew across the empty world. Cream sploshed under his feet, he whipped it into thick fluffy peaks and bounded through the sweet snow. The air was pure, with a light scent of mint. Ink took a deep breath, rolling the taste of it on his tongue. 

This AU would be beautiful. The residents would never want for food or resources or health. 

He would try harder this time. They would be happy…he hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a lot of fun to write. Please feel free to leave a comment or kudo if you liked it.


End file.
